


Newton's got a date

by Hawkseyebrow



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Arguing, Awkwardness, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:18:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17704976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkseyebrow/pseuds/Hawkseyebrow
Summary: Hermann overhears Newton talking about his date and feels weirdly offended because he’s not the one Newton has that date with.





	Newton's got a date

“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you! You won’t believe what I’ve got!” Newton’s excited voice carried from LOCCENT and ringed down the corridor, reaching Hermann who simply couldn’t help but smile. All of his lab partner’s emotions were contagious, including this pure, innocent happiness he sometimes radiated.

“What have you got, Newton?” answered Tendo, acting bored and annoyed. But even from a distance, it was obvious that he was just as amused as the incoming mathematician.

“I’ve got a date!” shrieked the scientist and Hermann’s heart stopped. In fact, his whole body froze just outside the Command Center.

“Amazing. Truly marvellous.” exclaimed the technician with the mocking kind of excitement.

“Hey, it really is! I mean when was the last time…”

“Newton, I’m really happy for you, my man,” interrupted Tendo “but it’s just one date and I really need to get this done as fast as possible so since you don’t have anything work-related to talk about anymore, can we move the admiration session to the evening? Or can you go bother someone else? Or both?” he asked, this time sounding genuinely apologetic.

“Yeah, sure, no problem! I can wait ‘til evening! I mean I don’t know if there’s anyone else who’d listen to me talking about a single date for like an hour and not strangle me in the process.” laughed Newton, his voice becoming louder as he drew closer to the exit. Hermann plastered himself against the outer wall of the LOCCENT, praying he didn’t have to face the biologist right then and there.

“Whatever you say! Six at my place?” Tendo raised his voice. He must’ve gotten some nonverbal approval because a second later Newton was walking out of the Command Center with a spring in his step.

Hermann felt cold when he watched his lab partner walk away oblivious to his presence. The feeling had nothing to do with the temperature of a metal wall he was leaning on and everything to do with what Newt had said just a moment before. He’s got a date and it’s not with Hermann.

He shook his head. Of course, it’s not with him, why would Newton go on a date with him? They bicker almost constantly, they mock each other, by jove, they hate each other! And yet he couldn’t help but feel betrayed. 

Newton never dated before. Hermann thought they had an unspoken agreement. He thought they both were married to their jobs. He thought… and maybe that was his problem right there. He thought instead of acting and now it was too late. Newton’s going to go on a date, then on a second one, and then the third one and before he knows it he’ll be buying an apartment somewhere in Hong Kong and moving in with his newly-wed wife and 2,5 children and probably a hamster and…

“Hermann?” his head shot up upon hearing his name. There was Tendo standing right in front of him, a few empty mugs clutched in one hand. The other was outstretched, reaching towards the mathematician but not quite touching him.

“Everything ok?” asked the technician with a worried expression.

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Hermann tried to will his blood pressure to normalize and his heart to stop beating like crazy. He was nearly sure that the other man could hear it from where he was standing. 

“Report.” he said, suddenly and violently offering a folder he kept pressed to his chest the whole time. He was so focused on sounding normal that he didn’t really think about what he was about to actually say. On second thought hitting the other person straight in the chest with a stack of paper and a single word might not have been the smoothest way of delivering fruits of his labour.

“Right,” said Tendo, now looking and sounding suspicious, instead of worried. “thank you.” he stated, finally grabbing the blasted folder so that Hermann could let go of it and not at all run away from the scene. He just left. Not hurriedly at all. Not even one bit.

When he reached the lab, Hermann stopped in the entrance. He could see Newton at his dissection table, moving his hips in tune with the upbeat song coming from speakers. As usual, it was just a bit too loud for comfort. 

“Newton,” started Hermann, not exactly sure what he wanted to say. Or rather how to say it, because he had the ‘please don’t go away’ part figured out, he just didn’t want it to sound like he knew about his lab partner’s date and wanted him to cancel it because he suddenly felt weirdly possessive of Newton’s free time. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m turning it down.” grumbled the other scientist, apparently misunderstanding Hermann’s pause as a suggestion, instead of hesitation. He reached towards a dial on a haphazardly put together stereo that hanged onto life by pure force of will and a ton of silver tape to turn the volume down.

“Yes,” Hermann cleared his throat, feeling weirdly nervous “yes, thank you” he said, going to his own workstation and sitting down in front of a computer. Waiting for it to boot up, the mathematician started to fidget with the cuffs of his blazer.

“Got any plans for the evening?” he finally asked. He turned towards Newton, trying to look casual. The other man threw a questioning glance his way, eyes immediately going back to the Kaiju viscera he was currently cutting into.

“Why the sudden interest?” he asked. Hermann only shrugged before he remembered that Newton probably couldn’t see it with the way he was hunched over the table.

“Do I need to have a reason?” countered the mathematician, defensively crossing his arms on his chest. The other scientist just raised his head to glare at him suspiciously.

“Normal person wouldn’t need a reason, but I’m pretty sure that you have one, you’re just not willing to share it. And to answer your question, yes, it so happens that I do actually have plans for the evening…”

“Oh, you have seen through my wicked, evil soul just perfectly, Newton! Do you want to know the rest of my despicable plan that requires information on your whereabouts in a few hours?” interrupted Hermann. He wanted to make sure that he hasn’t jumped to conclusions, but it didn’t mean that he needed to hear all the details. Lucky for him, Newton was easily distracted and a few heated sentences later they weren’t on speaking terms anymore for the rest of the day, which was just fine by him.

Now he could freak out in peace. He could imagine all of the possible outcomes. Nearly all of them ended with Newton refusing to have anything to do with him anymore. Which, logically, wasn’t all that probable, but then again he couldn’t help but imagine all the worst-case scenarios.

He was a grown man, okay? He knew how he felt about Newton. But the problem was that he also knew how Newton felt about him. And it was clear as a day that the other man wasn’t at all interested in even being friends, let alone anything more.

“Hey, dude?” a tattooed arm appeared right in front of his face, startling Hermann.

“What?” he asked, looking up from staring at his keyboard.

“You’ve been acting,” the biologist paused, waving his hand in the air, looking for the right word “...weird.” he finally finished, looking at him expectantly.

“Just thinking.” Hermann tried brushing him off, even though he could see from Newton’s expression that the man would not let him get away so easily.

“About what?” there were times when Hermann wished he was wrong.

“Nothing important. Did you need something from me?” he wasn’t going to back down easily either.

“Yes, I’ve been talking to you for the last, like, ten minutes.” huffed Newton in annoyance, pointing an accusatory finger at Hermann.

“It took you ten minutes to notice that I’m not listening?” asked the mathematician, arching a judgemental brow. Newton stared at him for a moment.

“Congratulations, you just missed the point better than anyone I’ve ever talked to.” said the biologist flatly, then sighed, crossing his arms on his chest. “I was asking if you’d take a look at the data I collected on toxicity levels of various kaiju organs. There’s quite a lot of it and your computer is three times faster than mine plus you have this nice piece of software for full analysis and since I’m not sure what I’m looking for, only that I’m looking for any kind of pattern, I’d appreciate it if you could run it for me, please.” he said, not pausing to take a breath at any point during the whole speech. 

“Right, I’ll get to it right away.” answered Hermann, slightly embarrassed by his own, dismissive behaviour.

“Thanks, man,” Newton paused, clearly wanting to say something else, but restricting himself for some reason.

“Yes?” prompted the mathematician.

“Can I be a total ass and just leave you with my work?” asked his lab partner, still looking unsure.

“Newton, you’re ‘a total ass’ most of the time,” started Hermann, noticing the outraged huff he received as a response. “and you said that you have plans.” he finished softly. “Just go.” he added, trying not to seem bitter about it.

It would have been petty and selfish to say what he actually wanted to say. ‘Don't go’, ‘I don’t want to lose you’, ‘They will hurt you and they will break your heart and I don’t want to be the one who’ll pick up the pieces’.

He’d do it. Of course, he would. But if Newton ever needed this kind of help it’d mean that something really bad had happened and that would break Hermann’s heart by extension.

“Here we go, you’re zoning out again.” the biologist hummed cheerfully, his expression a worried one. “Dude, I’m a bit afraid to leave you alone right now, that’s not normal.”

“I’m fine, Newton. As I said, I’m just thinking.” snapped the mathematician, much more aggressively than he wanted. He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a few deep breaths. 

“My apologies. I’m just…” he waved his right hand in the air, much as Newton had just a few minutes prior. 

“Tired?”

“Yes,” he didn’t add that it’s as good an explanation as any since he didn’t want to use words such as ‘jealous’ or ‘protective’. “I’ll be alright, Newton. Just go already and let me get some blessed peace for once.” he shooed the other man away with a hand gesture.

Newton shot him a suspicious look but started going backwards towards an entrance to the lab, his eyes narrowed. It had a more comedic than warning effect, but after spending so much time together Hermann could see the message his co-worker tried to convey clearly.

That was until the biologist disappeared behind one of the partition walls leading to the exit. A few seconds later there was a loud yelp coming from this direction, followed by someone shrieking ‘watch out!’. Before Hermann could react he heard a distinctive ‘I’m fine! It’s fine!’ coming from Newton himself. 

Relaxing, Hermann shook his head and smiled gently to himself. He sighed and focused his attention on a monitor standing in front of him, pulling up a shared drive and searching for the data Newton had talked about.

He finished his own work and left the full analysis running when he left the lab for the night. He could, and probably should, have managed to work for an hour or two more, but he wasn't sure if he'd achieve much this way. His brain just kept going back to Newton's date like a broken record. He wondered who’d managed to catch his lab partner’s attention, where they were, what they were doing and how it was going to end for Newton and for himself.

So many questions which he shouldn't even ask. It wasn't his business. Newton wasn't his business. Or, more accordingly, Newton's private life wasn't his business. Newton's romantic interests weren't his business.

And yet he wanted to know so badly. He was a mathematician. He basically survived on collecting data and having data on your co-worker was just convenient and allowed for a better working relationship. At least that's what Hermann told himself to silence that nagging little voice in his head that told him he was a creep who wanted nothing more than to spy on the other man.

At least he didn’t really lose any sleep over it, which was a relief. He’d probably feel even worse with himself if such a minor thing was enough to make him agonize over it for hours upon hours in the dark of his room. 

The next morning, he got ready for the day as he always did. He opened the door leading into the corridor like he always did. And then he let out a high-pitched squeak and slammed them closed, which wasn’t part of his routine, but Newton was right there. He was walking right by his door this very moment. Hermann plastered himself on the cold metal, peeking outside through the viewer.

Sure enough, there was one very confused Newton on his doorstep. Technically he was just standing in the middle of the corridor, but it was narrow enough to make it feel like the other scientist was just about to knock on his door. He wasn’t if his sheepish expression was anything to go by.

He looked… dishevelled would be the best word to describe it. His hair was a mess, his glasses had a huge smudge on them. He was wearing wrinkled, not quite fastened clothes that just screamed that they’ve been worn since the day before. He left most buttons on his shirt open, his pitiful excuse for a tie was missing and his boots weren’t laced. Even his pants weren’t done up. The zipper was open all the way down, giving anyone who’d look that way a hint of ruby red briefs.

What that particular outfit implied made Hermann’s face take on a similar colour. At first, he felt like he was somehow imposing on a private moment, but then a realization hit him. It was much too early for any transport from the city to arrive. Newton must’ve spent the night somewhere in the Shatterdome. 

That thought made him unreasonably angry. Newton’s spent the night in the Shatterdome. With someone. And he had the audacity to parade around in the morning, looking like a living banner that screams ‘I got laid!’. It felt like the biologist was intentionally taunting Hermann. He knew that logically this explanation didn’t make any sense, but he was already angry enough not to care about logic.

He swung the door open again. It was a public corridor, so he had every right to be there at this hour.

“Morning!” chirped Newton with a wide smile and, goodness gracious, even his voice sounded rough. Hermann’s grip on his cane tightened. He didn't answer, just glared at his co-worker and shoulder checked him on his way to the lab. He also ignored an offended “Dude, what the fuck?!” that followed him.

Thankfully, the shout was the only thing that followed him. Apparently, Newton had decided that he was going to go into his room at least once to straighten himself before he shows up in the lab, thank heavens.

For a moment there, just after making his morning tea, Hermann thought that maybe that would be the end of it. That Newton had come to his senses and realized that he was being inconsiderate in the morning. But he should have known that Newton doesn't really do the whole shame thing. Especially not around him. 

“So, what was that about?” the biologist asked casually when he entered the lab an hour later. There was a strange note in his voice that Hermann couldn’t quite identify.

“What was what about?” he snapped, setting the chalk he was just writing with on a designated tray with a loud bang. He spun around, facing the other scientist.

“The screeching and then slamming a door and then being angry for no reason.” recited Newton flatly, looking at him expectantly. Hermann felt his face heating up. He wasn’t sure how much of it was the embarrassment and how much the newly-awakening anger.

“Newton, have some resemblance of dignity and end this discussion now.” he said and walked over to his workstation.

“Maybe you ‘have some resemblance of dignity’ and tell me what did I do wrong this time?!” Newton raised his voice in frustration, doing an objectively good impression of Hermann’s accent.

“Who in their right mind goes around the Shatterdome practically naked?!” screamed Hermann, throwing his free hand up angrily. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both glaring daggers at each other. It was Newton who broke the silence.

“I wasn’t even close to being naked. I could have taken off like,” he paused, took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. “five more things and still be considered fully-clothed!” he finished with another annoyed sound. 

Hermann knew that his lab partner was right. He knew that he was overreacting. But he also wasn’t ready to admit that his anger was unprovoked or, even worse, that it was actually a loud manifestation of some other emotion. 

“The number of articles of clothing one wears is irrelevant if said garments reveal more than they cover.” he said stubbornly and leaned more prominently on his cane, readying himself for a long shouting match. Newton’s eyes became comically wide with disbelief, making him look like a very shocked lemur. 

“Should I call an ambulance? Doctor Hermann Gottlieb, years of experience in worshipping math, just said that a number is irrelevant!” he screamed, making a 360-degrees spin, like he was checking the reaction of an invisible audience, laughing hysterically. 

Hermann opened his mouth to answer, but before he had a chance to say anything, Newton continued. “Besides, I had a long-sleeved...” he stated, then paused and made a loud, unidentifiable sound. “No. No, it’s pointless.” he decided, spreading his arms out in defeat and letting them fall down to smack against his sides. “I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t care, just stop taking it out on me!” he said in an uncharacteristically low and venomous voice.

Not being able to think of any comeback and not sure if he even wanted to come up with one, Hermann just blinked a few times, looking idly at his co-worker’s leather-clad back when he retreated to his side of the lab. They started to work in uncomfortable silence, neither wanting to give in and apologize first.

That left Hermann with a lot of time to think without any interruptions. And as much as he wanted to pretend that he loved it, because it gave him an opportunity to get some actual work done, he just couldn’t focus on the numbers in front of him. Not with guilt slowly chewing its way into his conscience. Newton didn’t deserve to have his day ruined simply because Hermann couldn’t keep his emotions in check. 

“Doctor Geiszler?” he started, tentatively. He hoped that being official about it would make the apology easier.

“Thank you for the analysis, Doctor Gottlieb.” answered Newton suddenly. Even though normally Hermann would be ecstatic upon hearing his lab partner call him by his whole title, it was said with such a resentment that it felt more like a slap to the face.

“Yes, you’re welcome.” said Hermann, slightly baffled by the sudden change of intended subject. He pinched the bridge of his nose and made a decision. Before he could chicken out of doing it, he stood up, crossed the line dividing two sides of the lab and stood next to Newton, who was sitting at his own computer at the moment, looking over Hermann’s analysis with more dedication than was strictly necessary.

“Newton…” he tried again, but to no reaction. “I’m sorry.” he said simply and received only a nondescript grunt in return. For a moment he wanted to yell at Newt and somehow force him to accept the apology, but he reminded himself that picking up another fight was not the reason he came over and that such acceptance would be invalid anyway.

“How did your date go?” asked Hermann against his better judgement, looking very intently at his shoes.

“What are you talking about?” Newton sounded tired and dismissive.

“Your date. The one you were on yesterday evening…?” specified the mathematician, trying to sound more polite than interested. When he received no response he looked up at a very confused-looking Newton.

“A date?” the biologist sounded pretty surprised for a person who had talked so much about it just a day prior.

“Are we now going to communicate only in questions?” Hermann couldn’t help himself but ask with a small smirk tugging at his lips.

“That would be fun, but no.” chuckled Newton and suddenly everything felt alright again. It was quite extraordinary how a simple smile could change so much when it came from the right person. “Hermann, I wasn’t on any date.” said the biologist with a frown.

“Then where were you?” demanded Hermann, also furrowing his brows in confusion.

“I was at Tendo’s. At first I didn’t intend to stay the night, but then we started a movie marathon and then I fell asleep on his couch and woke up just enough to take off my shoes and pants and shirt and then fall asleep again,” Newton took a breath “wait, you really thought I hook up last night?” he finished with a wide grin.

Hermann felt his cheeks start to burn yet again. He wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to admit that yes, he had thought at all about Newton having sex with someone, but denying would have been completely pointless. Fortunately for him, no force could stop the biologist from talking right now.

“Dude, I’m honoured! You think I could actually seduce a human being!” chuckled Newton, looking down at his hands.

“You could!” squeaked Hermann before he could stop himself. He watched the other scientist look at him cautiously. “I mean you were talking about your date with Tendo yesterday!” he added quickly to change the subject. “In LOCCENT” he specified upon being met with a blank stare.

A sudden, violent laugh left Newton’s throat, startling Hermann. He shuffled nervously, not sure if he was supposed to be affronted by the sudden outburst or maybe join in.

“That’s hilarious!” wheezed Newton between two peals of laughter.

“Clearly.” stated Hermann dryly, only provoking his lab partner to laugh even harder. “Are you quite done?” he asked when the biologist managed to get himself under any sort of control.

“Yes,” the other man choked out, tears streaming down his face. “Yes, it’s just that,” another small laugh escaped him. Hermann reached into his pocket and handed over a clean handkerchief wordlessly. “I was talking about fruit.” said Newton finally and took his glasses off to wipe the evidence of his amusement off his face.

Something clicked in Hermann’s mind. He went back to the overheard conversation. It was possible that it was about fruit. It actually made more sense if it was about fruit.

“You were talking about a single date? As in this little,” Hermann held up his hand, indicating the exact size with two of his fingers. “fruit from a date palm?” he finished with a very shocked and offended expression.

“I wouldn’t call them little, but yes.” answered Newton, visibly struggling to keep a straight face. “I was talking about a single date because I couldn’t get more than one. Since Hundun’s attack on Manila two years ago dates are rather hard to come by.” he continued, seeming excited about explaining this to Hermann.

“It’s fascinating, really, how the Blue travelled from the Philippines all the way to the red sea and polluted all of the biggest plantations in one go.” only now did the biologist look at the other scientist. “I mean not only fascinating but also terrifying and sad, of course.” he quickly added, waving a hand dismissively. 

“I mean come on, who could talk about having a single date pre-war?” he laughed. “They came in those huge batches that were sweet enough to make your teeth hurt if you stuffed yourself with too many at once,” suddenly his voice broke and the smile faded from his face. “and then your uncle would come and yell at you to leave something for the guests and you’d grab a handful more and run away to hide somewhere and eat them, convinced that you outsmarted the adults when in reality they’d know exactly where you were, just opted to let you do what you loved to do.” as he was speaking with a faraway look in his eyes, one or two tears escaped from beneath his lashed and made their way down his cheeks.

“Oh, Newton…” Hermann felt an overwhelming need to comfort his lab partner, but he had no idea how. He reached out with his right hand and delicately wiped away the tears that stopped on his chin.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened.” mumbled the biologist, jerking slightly as if the touch had torn him away from the memory.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” said Hermann simply. He moved his hand to rest on Newton’s knee and perched carefully at the edge of his desk to give his leg some much-needed relief. “I… er,” he desperately searched for something to say. “I don’t like dates.” perfect. The awkward statement seemed to do the trick though because Newton chuckled weakly. 

“Why?” he asked.

“They’re too sweet and have a weird texture. The outer skin is hard and crispy and the middle is all gooey, and just,” Hermann stopped to accent his disgust by making a face and a strange sound.

“I know, they really are weird, right?!” exclaimed Newton with sudden delight. “God, I’d sell my left kidney for a box of them right about now.” he said dreamily, then sobered up. “Wait-” he looked at the other man suspiciously. “-so you’ve been acting weird lately because you thought that I had a date yesterday.” the biologist stated. “Because you eavesdropped on my conversation with Tendo.”

“You were yelling loud enough that I could hear it from the corridor, I wasn’t eavesdropping.” corrected the mathematician flatly, trying to stop his embarrassment from showing on his face.

“But the knowledge, or rather the belief, made you act weirdly. Why?” asked Newton, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful expression.

“Newton, I’m not one of your specimens that you can study.” reminded Hermann, crossing his arms on his chest defensively.

“No, but I want to know.” the other man shrugged carelessly. “Why was Doctor Hermann Gottlieb so shaken by this?” he prodded.

“I wasn’t shaken.” the mathematician decided that denial might be the best strategy. It was surely the easiest and safest one.

“Oh, but you were.” the biologist practically purred, finally making Hermann blush and curse his fair complexion. He smiled victoriously.

“I think it’s high time we get back to work.” said Hermann flatly and stood up abruptly, turning towards his side of the lab.

“Don’t run away, you coward!” Newton mirrored his moves. The mathematician turned around sharply, forcing the other man to stop right before they collided.

“I’m not running away!” he yelled right in the biologist’s face.

“What are you so afraid of?!” Newton came right back at him, not missing a bit. He was too used to shouting to feel threatened by it.

“I’m not afraid of anything!”

“You can’t just deny everything I say!”

“Yes I can, if it’s simply not true!”

“What isn’t true?! That you deny everything?! You fucking contradict yourself, you-”

“This doesn’t even make sense! I didn’t say-”

“Like fuck you didn’t!”

“Newton, stop-”

“What if I don’t want to stop, not until-”

“I was jealous!” 

That finally got the biologist to shut up. Both of them were breathing heavily and staring at each other.

“Well, that was quick.” said Newton after a moment has passed. Hermann huffed an annoyed breath and turned around to continue towards his desk. “What were you jealous over?”

“You’re not my therapist, Newton.” said the mathematician warningly. It didn’t discourage the other man from following him over the yellow line.

“No, I’m not, but I’m your… what am I to you, actually?” Hermann raised his eyes to the sky, praying to whoever would listen to him for a way out of this situation. When it didn’t seem to magically happen on it’s own, he faced the other scientist.

“You’re my lab partner.” he said simply, but then lowered his eyes. “And… maybe more?” he more asked then stated. He felt like a child, asking someone to be his friend on the first day in new school.

“You want to date me?” and of course Newton took it not the way Hermann intended.

“No!” the mathematician yelled, his head snapping up with a look of pure horror. The biologist flinched.

“I’m that bad, huh?” he tried to joke, but it was so painfully clear how hurt he was.

“No! No, I just-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself.” snapped Newton. It was his turn to try and walk away, but Hermann was tired of them running away from each other. He already fucked up royally, making Newton believe that he found him repulsive and ruining any chances at a steady working relationship, not to mention anything else. It couldn’t get much worse than that, right?

Hermann’s hand shoot forwards, grabbing the other scientist’s wrist in a steel grip and yanking him back around with more strength than either of them anticipated he had. Newton lost his balance and stumbled with a surprised yelp, knocking his hip into Hermann’s desk with a painful grunt. It was, however, swallowed by the mathematician’s panicked voice.

“I do want to date you!” he basically shouted, reaching out with his other hand to shakily put it on the other scientist’s shoulder. Newton stared at him, for once at a loss of words. “I actually do, that’s why I’ve been… I haven’t taken it well when I thought you were dating someone else and then you showed up in front of my bunk looking like you’ve had a great time and you did. Have a great time I mean. Just not in a way I thought you did. And of course, you can continue to have fun with people in the way I thought then that you had had it,” Hermann finally paused to take a breath and found himself with his mouth covered with Newton’s palm.

“Just shut up for a minute, would you?” the biologist begged with a huge smile splitting his face. Hermann rolled his eyes at him. And then licked his hand. Newton pulled it back sharply with a high shriek. “Ow, gross, what are you, twelve?!” he accused with a grimace and stared at his hand. Then he looked at Hermann and after a beat of silence both of them laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“Don’t you dare.” warned Hermann when the other man reached out to wipe his hand on his sweater vest.

“It’s your slobber, you filthy animal!”

“If you’re done insulting me, I’d like to receive your answer to the whole dating thing.” stated the taller man bashfully. Newton’s expression softened immediately.

“I, Newton Geiszler, PhD., would like very much to date you.” he recited, trying to sound as official as possible given the circumstances of his face threatening to split in two because of the sheer size of his grin. “As soon as you apologize for creating that huge bruise I can feel currently forming on my hip, asshole.”

“You just had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?” sighed the mathematician, letting go of Newton’s shoulder. He didn’t even notice he was still squeezing it. The biologist crossed his arms on his chest and arched an expectant eyebrow at him.

“Who’s acting like a child now, huh?” asked Hermann, but got no reaction. “Fine, sorry. Happy?” he grumbled.

“Very. Can I hug you, now that we’re officially a couple?” the shorter man was practically vibrating with energy. The mathematician sighed and opened his arms, which immediately got full of one very excited scientist, who wrapped his own arms around Hermann’s waist and hugged him hard, making small circles on his back with one palm. They ended the embrace after a short moment, neither of them too sure about their new status yet and not wanting to scare the other off.

“My place at eight?” asked Newton. After receiving a nod in response, he went back to his own side of the lab. There was a moment of comfortable silence, before Hermann’s brain caught up with what happened.

“Did you wipe your hand on my back?!” he exclaimed, horrified. Newton just giggled and dodged a piece of chalk already flying his way.


End file.
